Perhaps marriage is only for the khals. However, that makes no sense to me either, as becoming a khal has zero to do with who your parents are/were; you have to fight for the right to lead a khalasar. So why even the khals would care what children they fathered with whom is hard to imagine.

I agree. It seems like polygamy or at least polyamory would be a better fit for a khal in Dothraki culture.

I don't think the trophy wife explanation works at all. The term is a recent coinage in our culture and has nothing to do with the life of nomads on Esos. Certainly Drogo is not going to attend cocktail parties at ritzy country clubs where he will introduce Daenerys to envious colleagues (including many older males). She is not a clever, cultured, and independent woman who can stand in for him at important social functions and perhaps some business meetings. More to the point, I see nothing in Dothraki culture that indicates that an older man would gain status by marrying a young hot foreign woman. Note that this is a marriage, definitely an arrangement even if not exactly a sale. Conquering cities or tribes and carrying off women gains a man status in a warrior culture. Making deals with a fat Pentosi cheesemonger does not.

A better approach to our question would be to consider what a khal would want from a wife (not from a bed slave or a mistress). I think the answer can be given in two words: strong sons. Drogo is not stupid or ignorant. It is an extremely good bet that he knows about dragons and Valyria. He certainly knows about dragonbone and Valyrian steel. A man like him would be very interested in mating with the last female descendant of a guy named "Aegon the Conqueror." The appeal would be based on genetics, what the residents of Esos and Westeros would probably call blood lines.

This explanation holds up well when we consider what happens after the wedding. There is the long trip across the grasslands, the ceremonies, the prophecy, etc. Did Drogo think that the dosh khaleen would be highly impressed with a beautiful platinum blonde? Not likely. The whole business is centered on Dany's pregnancy. You have the mixing of the blood of a mighty khal with that of a descendant of dragon riders. That is the main point. In the chapter where Dany presents Viserys with the Dothraki garb, she reports that her pregnancy has inflamed Drogo's desire, "and of late his embraces left her exhausted." More significantly, we have the ceremony that starts with the eating of the stallion's heart. After Deanerys succeeds, Drogo puts a hand on her arm. It is the only time she senses fear in him. He is uncertain what the crones will prophesy. When they proclaim that the unborn child will be the stallion who mounts the world, it is the fulfillment of his hopes.

I don't deny that the khal is happy to find that Dany is good looking. I don't think that her beauty was the deciding factor for him though.

I like this explanation. I think the dragon eggs were a gift from Illyrio to Drogo not Dany to prove she was a Targ.

If Aegon is a Blackfyre is it possible Illyrio wanted to split Dany & him up before he started producing more Targs. Dany points out they would be married if circumstances were normal and Dany is at the pivotal point where she's just becoming a woman. Illyrio might have wanted to split them up without killing them. Viserys insisted on going and Illyrio backed down as:1. He's a fool and if he did start shagging Dany someone would find out2. When the Dothraki did find out he'd be dead

just a quick sidentote I think the horse heart eating ceremony was beautifully portrayed on the hbo series; when he lifts her up in the air and embraces her you can really see how happy she's made him.

@Parwan - I think everyone here is using a looser interpretation of the concept of 'trophy wife' than what you described. Dany's bloodline, her looks, her genetics, it all fits into that concept. Drogo wanted a better wife than all the other khals. But that certainly doesn't downplay the significance of her childbearing potential as you did a great job of pointing out.

Definitely agree on hbo's version of the heart eating ceremony. It was well done. Emilia Clarke is one reason I still count myself more or less in the pro-Dany camp. Ms. Clarke did a very good job of portraying the character, and I consider Daenerys a very interesting character. Now, is the dragon queen a fundamentally good person? That's a more complicated question. More to the point of this thread, I'd say that Drogo really does come to care for Dany. It's a sort of love story, though not the sort I'd want to be involved in.

I can accept the idea of a looser interpretation, with a proviso. One can get too loose in one's interpretation. A term that can mean anything eventually comes to mean nothing. We don't need to worry too much about that here though. My central point is that Drogo's initial interest in Dany, his reason for the marriage, relates to blood lines and the desire for strong sons. He has other interests, but that is the main one.

It seems like a bad trade, but you gotta understand there were circumstances beyond his control. Drogo was "booty blinded", its kinda like being snow blinded except there is no snow, just a nice looking piece of ass. Many people fall victim to this, much to their misfortune.

I was watching the first episode of a Game of Thrones yesterday and wondered about something after seeing the Drogo/Daenarys wedding.

Why did Khal Drogo wanted to marry Dany in the first place? Viserys said it was because Drogo wanted to marry a princess, but why would he want that? Drogo don’t come across to me as a man who would fancy such things.Also, the bargain is not really interesting. Drogo gives 40 thousand men, Viserys in exchange offers his sister, but they have no ally or gold; they have nothing…

I also assume thet Illyrio and Varys are Blackfyre loyalists (Varys potentially a Blackfyre, and Illyrio might have been married to one... Varys' sister perhaps), and Aegon is a Blackfyre too (i.e., Illyrio's son). There are other theories I find plausible, but this one makes the most sense to me at the moment.

Under this assumption, it makes a ton of sense for Illyrio to send Viserys and Dany into their doom: Viserys is probably the one person who can unequivocally out Aegon as fake, and these two are perfect targets for King Bob's Targaryen hate so Aegon can hide better. Also, it makes sure Pentos is unharmed by the Dothraki this time around.

But while Viserys' death is important for Illyrio's strategy, Dany dying is pretty much optional. He probably prefers it that way, but since she survives and becomes a üpolitical force in her own right, she becomes the perfect match for Aegon - the last two 'Targaryens' marry, giving Aegon further legitimacy and 'righting the wrong' of Blackfyre suppression in one stroke... until Tyrion throws a spanner in the works of these two schemers...

This is very clever. I always thought there was more to it than Dany just being attractive. I mean, Drogo showed interest in the deal before he even laid eyes on her, so something was obviously already on the back of his mind. While it's possible that Drogo was just interested in having the last Targaryen heir, which is sort of like a treasure, I am on board with this theory now.

I don't want to say anything inappropriate, but maybe he heard about how foreign girls make love. He did not want the Dothraki way.

If he married a Dothraki girl, she'd probably not teach him anything new and probably not taught to keep to one bed. Normally, a khal would share his wife with his bloodriders. Khal Drogo kept Dany to himself.

It was really more of a way of telling Dany's story from helpless little girl to queen with three dragons. But it makes sense enough in terms of the story.

Drogo had an entire manse in Pentos so it seems that he had been dealing with Illyrio for some time before the story began. Viserys and Dany had been staying with Illyrio for half a year, more than enough time for Illyrio to send Drogo word of the last Targaryen princess and for him to arrive with his khalasar.

Drogo liked what he saw, and why not? The last living remnant of a dynasty unlike the world had ever seen, perhaps young compared to today's standards, but I would bet Drogo thought his hundred thousand strong khalasar would benefit by having the last Targaryen princess as it's khaleesi. The only thing I don't get is why Illyrio gave Dany the eggs if he expected her to die. They are supposedly beyond calculation of value, and obviously he never knew what Dany would do with them. Of course she needed them in order to get her dragons, but it seems like Illyrio could have hired enough sellswords to conquer Westeros along with the Golden Company if he hadn't paid for those dragon eggs.

I was watching the first episode of a Game of Thrones yesterday and wondered about something after seeing the Drogo/Daenarys wedding.

Why did Khal Drogo wanted to marry Dany in the first place? Viserys said it was because Drogo wanted to marry a princess, but why would he want that? Drogo don’t come across to me as a man who would fancy such things.Also, the bargain is not really interesting. Drogo gives 40 thousand men, Viserys in exchange offers his sister, but they have no ally or gold; they have nothing…

Probably as a trophy wife. A Targaryen princess makes for quite the prestigious wife, seeing as there is only one of them left. Drogo comes to care for her once he realizes that they suit each other, but initially it was probably something like a trophy wife deal.

Illyrio likely has some long term endgame for Dany, but I can only speculate as to what that is currently.

i think he wants to ultimately marry fake aegon to her to claim the targaryen line, keep it pure, and to have targ kids who don't kill non-targ women being born. and when i say TARG - i mean those that are TRULY dragons. which leads me to believe that tyrion is a targ. Jon kills Lyanna, Dany kills her mother, and Tyrion kills his. all NON targ women, and especially not a Dragon targ woman.

This has not occurred to us, dude. It fits. House Blackfyre is a faction that I'd never considered; if there is a place for them in the bigger scheme of things, it is here. And protection for Pentos would have been a fair exchange for Dany, which explains Drogo's marriage pact.

Not only that, but if fake aegon is illyrio and vary's son (yes, VARYS), then they join their Blackfyre (Varys is speculated to be a Blackfyre Targ) son to Dany, and have pure Dragon children - except fake aegon may be a blackfyre targ but he isn't a Dragon targ. By that I mean, not one with any real dragon blood flowing through their veins (metaphorically).

It was really more of a way of telling Dany's story from helpless little girl to queen with three dragons. But it makes sense enough in terms of the story.

Drogo had an entire manse in Pentos so it seems that he had been dealing with Illyrio for some time before the story began. Viserys and Dany had been staying with Illyrio for half a year, more than enough time for Illyrio to send Drogo word of the last Targaryen princess and for him to arrive with his khalasar.

Drogo liked what he saw, and why not? The last living remnant of a dynasty unlike the world had ever seen, perhaps young compared to today's standards, but I would bet Drogo thought his hundred thousand strong khalasar would benefit by having the last Targaryen princess as it's khaleesi. The only thing I don't get is why Illyrio gave Dany the eggs if he expected her to die. They are supposedly beyond calculation of value, and obviously he never knew what Dany would do with them. Of course she needed them in order to get her dragons, but it seems like Illyrio could have hired enough sellswords to conquer Westeros along with the Golden Company if he hadn't paid for those dragon eggs.

tl;dr: She was hot.

The eggs - if you read my post above, then Fake Aegon was never able to hatch those eggs despite his, illyrio and varys' attempts. giving them to Dany the Dragon Targ was their chance of seeing them hatch.